Friday, September 20, 2013

There Is No Compromise on ObamaCare

Republicans oppose ObamaCare. That's no secret. But there seems to be some conflicting ideas among Republicans about how that opposition should be played out on Capitol Hill.

For example, the House GOP establishment had, until this week, wanted to hold votes on two bills: one that could potentially defund ObamaCare, and a separate bill that would keep the government funded after this month. This was the expected path, the path of GOP reason and "compromise" according to the media and Democrats.

It's hardly a spirited opposition, though, as it does absolutely nothing to impede the Democrat endgame. The Senate could simply ignore the bill to defund ObamaCare, pass the bill to provide stopgap spending to keep the government running, and send the latter to the White House for signing.

Conservatives less interested in pre-emptive capitulation to Democrats, however, have suggested there be a vote on a single bill which would both defund ObamaCare and provide the stopgap spending to keep the government funded. Want to keep the government running? So do we. Just defund the bill, granting all Americans the courtesy of a waiver from ObamaCare -- you know, like the one Congress worked so diligently to grant itself.

And surprisingly, House majority leader John Boehner has finally endorsed the latter strategy, saying that "[t]he law's a train wreck. It's time to protect working families from this unworkable law."